Burdened
by xxTigerAvatarxx
Summary: Just a one-shot. Aang feels the weight of the world pressing down on him, and struggles with how he is supposed to feel being the only one capable of stopping the Fire Lord. Kataangst.


**A/N: I know, you guys probably hate me for not updating "Broken"… But I think I'm going to take a little break from that story and begin working on its sequel when I come back. I might write a few one-shots to appease your hunger while you wait.. I'm not THAT mean ;)**

**Thanks for putting up with me, despite everything :)) I promise I'll finish it eventually! PROMISE!**

**All My Love,**

**xxTAxx**

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They sat around the campfire, just as they always did on nights as clear as this. The stars illuminated the night sky, mocking the small band of teenagers for even thinking that they would need the extra light tonight.

The stars didn't know that it wasn't the light they needed, but the warmth.

The cold wasn't a problem that particular night. The spring season was slowly breaking into the summer heat, and so the nights had become very comfortable as a result of the change.

It had been Aang's idea to have a campfire… and his companions didn't complain. He was burdened heavily, even Toph could see that. The past few weeks had been terrifying to watch. Nightmare after horrible nightmare had plagued his peaceful sleep only to force him awake every night, trembling. He never screamed. No, he didn't want to wake Katara. He didn't want her to worry. But she still did.

He was slipping, losing himself to the crushing weight which pressed upon his shoulders, and he had begun to turn away from them all. When Katara brought up his lack of sleep due to his nightmares, he would stiffen rigidly and demand that she drop the issue.

She never did. And she began to lose sleep as well.

The young Avatar was curled in on himself; chin resting upon his knees, silver eyes dancing in the firelight. He sat completely opposite of Katara, across the fire, while Sokka and Toph filled in the empty parts of the little circle. No one spoke.

Aang stared into the fire. His eyes burned and watered profusely but he had ceased to care, and began to wonder why he had even suggested the fire in the first place. The warmth, of course, was incredibly comforting- relieving his tension some. But on the other end, it brought him nearest to the element which he feared most.

He suddenly imagined the entire world dancing as brightly as the tallest flame in front of him. Watching it with awe, Aang marveled at the utter beauty it portrayed forgetting, for a moment, the destruction it would leave. Then, his eyes lowered unconsciously to the charred heap beneath the burning flames, instead, picturing towns, villages, animals… people.

Aang gave a start as Momo's loud squawk broke the silence of the night. His heart raced, and he clutched at the skin around it.

Momo had begun to tear madly at Sokka's face, squabbling in protest at the bemused warrior. Katara leapt up suddenly, grabbing the smoldering stick from her brother's grasp and snapping it in half before throwing it back into the fire.

"I don't know why I even try to understand you!" She shrieked. "You're so _immature_! WHat's wrong with you, Sokka? There's a war happening all around us and you're sitting here acting like a little child!"

"He is a child." The soft voice star led Katara from her fit of anger, and the three companions looked at the air bender sympathetically. Aang, feeling their gaze on him, brusquely stood from his log and turned to leave.

"You always seem to forget, Katara, that we're _all_… just _kids_. We're not warriors." His eyes turned downcast, and the pain in his voice nearly broke her heart.

"Aang-"

He raised his voice. "You don't understand what its like!" The tears freely streamed down his face, and the siblings saw that the pain raging within the young boy had contorted his face into a mask of anguish. "What it's like…" he took a breath "…to be _me_…"

There comes a moment, when all the bottled up anger and hurt that someone is experiencing suddenly explodes out of them all at once, and they break down. This was that moment…

Katara cupped Aang's face and turned him gently so that he could look at her. Aang bit his lower lip, trying to hold back the onset of tears. He turned his face away from her, refusing to face her. "You don't know what it's like to have the weight of the world upon my shoulders…"

"Aang…" Katara didn't know what she should say. "Aang…please look at me…" she pleaded.

"You don't understand…" he replied, shoulders sagging in defeat. All of his anger was gone, replacing itself with the grief of a thousand lifetimes- all burdened with the shared responsibility of the balance of the world.

"No one _ever_ understands—"

She put her hand on his shoulder, and he jerked it away, trying to tear away from her touch. But Katara persisted. Her grip on his arm tightened. She got up and moved to the other side of the log so Aang could face her; her hand still on his shoulder, preventing him from turning away.

"I would if you'd just tell me…" she told him. Aang didn't respond.

"Aang, you don't have to worry about being _able_ to do this. You're the Avatar."

"I never asked to be the Avatar!" He exploded. "I didn't want this! Any of it! I didn't _ask_ to miss a hundred years of my life, I didn't _ask_ to lose all of my friends, I didn't _ask_ to be the only person who can stop this war!"

"Well, it doesn't make much of a difference if you wanted to be or not because, either way, you _are_! And there's a reason for that." Katara whispered.

Aang exhaled, "Why _me_? Why couldn't it be someone _smarter_ than me? … Katara, I'm a hundred years behind. I haven't even mastered all of the elements! The world needs menow and I'm not even ready!"

"But you're here…" Aang glanced over at her in confusion, and she grasped his hands tightly in hers. "It doesn't matter if you're ready or not, you are _here_. Knowing that the Avatar is here, means that there will always be hope… And hope is what everyone needs… You, being alive and here, means that you're keeping their hope _strong_. You are our hope…whether or not you've mastered all of the elements…" Katara smiled at Aang, who stared back into her eyes for the first time that night.

"You give people _hope_, Aang. Whether or not you defeat the Fire Lord and end this war… You've already done your job. Those people out there… before you came, had almost given up. But because you _returned_ to us, it gave us the strength we needed to fight back. Because you _live_, we fight."


End file.
